Electroanalysis of tert-butylhydroquinone in food products using a paste electrode enlarged with single wall carbon nanotubes as catalyst

Abstract

In this study, an electrochemical sensor was introduced as a simple and fast electro­analytical tool to monitor and sensing of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) in food products. The suggested electrochemical sensor is fabricated by modification of paste electrode (PE) by single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as nanocatalyst. The oxidation current of TBHQ was improved by about 2.62 times and its oxidation potential was reduced by about 50 mV after using SWCNTs as conductive catalyst on a carbon paste matrix. The oxidation current of TBHQ showed a linear dynamic range of 0.05 to 390 µM in the sensing process using SWCNTs/PE as the electroanalytical sensor. On the other hand, SWCNTs/PE successfully monitored TBHQ with a detection limit of 10 nM at optimum conditions. The real sample analysis data clearly showed a recovery range of 97.2 to 104.3 %, which is very interesting for a new analytical tool in the food-sensing process.